Detective Comics Vol 1 711

"Knight Out": There is a robbery in progress in a 364 Store. Bruce Wayne happenned to be buying a hot-dog for his date at that place when two armed men came in and started to threat him and the shopkeeper. Bruce played the fool for a while and when the things heated u

Synopsis for "Knight Out"

There is a robbery in progress in a 364 Store. Bruce Wayne happenned to be buying a hot-dog for his date at that place when two armed men came in and started to threat him and the shopkeeper. Bruce played the fool for a while and when the things heated up, he decided to act. Bruce threw mustard into one of the thieves' eyes and later he sneaked behing the second crook and knocked him out with an ice bag. By the time the shopkeeper reached for his gun, Bruce was gone and the thieves were incapacitated.

Bruce went back to his car, where Lydia Granger was waiting for him. Bruce started to drive to their appointment when the GCPD arrived at the scene.

Bruce and Lydia arrived at the gala. It was a ceremony to celebrate Gotham City's philantropists. As soon as they arrived they were greeted by Devlin Davenport. Bruce spotted some familiar faces among the crowd and the service people. He recognized the faces because he has seen them before in mug shots. Bruce prevented one of those men to swindle the wealthy people of Gotham by deciding to take part in his business. Everyone dropped the idea when Bruce showed interest. Later Bruce dropped the idea as well and the swindler was left angry.

Bruce then recognized another burglar disguised as a drunk man. The man stumbled upon an old lady and then made his way to the restroom. Bruce followed him and discovered that the man had pickpocketed the lady and took a valuable bracelet. Bruce nocked down the burglar and returned the bracelet to the lost objects area. With all that activity, Lydia felt that Bruce's mind was elsewhere.

The time for the awards ceremony arrived and the price for the philantropist of the year was for Bruce Wayne. He was there just a second before they announced it, but he was gone when he was proclaimed as the winner. Bruce had gone behind a pair of thieves that went upstairs. He found them trying to open a safe. In the most subtle was possible, Bruce knocked them both down and rejoined the party downstairs.

Lydia was mad at Bruce for leaving her alone almost all the night. Soon the people noticed the unconsious burglars upstairs and called the police.

Bruce drove Lydia to her apartment. Lydia offered Bruce to spend the night with her and Bruce agreed; but just as soon as she stepped outside the car Bruce started the engine and drove away. Lydia was so mad that she broke Bruce's trophy. The next day when she was asked about her night with Bruce she told the truth and her colleagues called her a liar but she would't change her story.

Notes

The story title is a pun of the phrase Night Out; as this is one of the few stories that features Bruce Wayne stopping criminals as himslef. Batman only appears in the cover as the rest of the story is centered in Bruce Wayne.

Trivia

There is a cigarettes' label Carcinoma Gigarettes. It is a reference to the illness Carcinoma caused by smoking.

There is a bread label that reads Vincenzo Bread with a picture in it. That is a reference to Darren Vincenzo, the assistant editor at that time. One of the thieves is drawn in resemblance to Chuck Dixon, the writer.

One of the thieves calls Bruce, James Bomb, because of the way he was dressed. That is a reference to the fictional British agent James Bond.